Ukraine, Poland exchange lists of sites to search for victims of historical conflicts

This was reported by Andrii Nadzhos, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communication of Ukraine, who heads the Ukrainian side of the working group on historical issues, in a comment to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), as cited by Ukrinform.

“We have taken a very important first step: we exchanged requests from the Polish side to conduct work on Ukrainian territory, and the Polish side received our requests to carry out work on Polish territory. We are currently analyzing these requests and gathering the necessary documents to reach mutual agreements. Upon consent from both parties, we will make positive decisions and publicly comment on the results of this work,” Nadzhos stated.

Another Ukrainian official informed PAP that Ukraine had granted permission to search for victims’ remains at a site where Polish graves were discovered in 2023. The agency suggests this may refer to a site visited in 2023 by then-Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki — namely, the former village of Puzhnyky in Ternopil region, where Ukrainian and Polish specialists uncovered mass graves of Polish victims from 1945.

According to the source, exhumation permits in Ukraine will be issued separately for each burial site after reviewing all necessary documentation.

Meanwhile, Poland’s Minister of Culture, Hanna Wróblewska, stated during a Saturday press conference in the village of Stronie Śląskie in southern Poland that the Ukrainian-Polish working group continues its efforts to conduct search and exhumation work. She emphasized that, given the sensitivity of the topic, the results of this work will first be shared with the directly involved parties and organizations, followed by the public. Wróblewska expressed gratitude to Ukraine’s Minister of Culture, Mykola Tochitskyi, for issuing the first permit for exhumation of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy.

As previously reported, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the first permit for exhumation of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy as a “breakthrough” in Ukrainian-Polish relations, adding that Poland awaits further decisions.

Following negotiations between the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Poland, Andrii Sybiha and Radosław Sikorski, in Warsaw, a joint statement was issued. It declared that Ukraine and Poland would promptly initiate the activities of a joint Working Group under the auspices of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications and Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage to conduct professional work and foster mutual understanding between the two sides.